1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the claimed subject matter relate generally to electronic data security. More particularly, embodiments of the claimed subject matter relate to technologies providing secure access to electronic data via a network.
2. Description of Related Art
Nowadays, frequent internet users, for example, consumers and businesspeople, encounter secure sites when navigating the World Wide Web. However, secure sites generate and subsequently require a user to remember myriad user IDs and passwords, which may require periodic changes. In response, users have developed patterns designed for recalling passwords. One coping mechanism frequently relied upon is the repeated use of a familiar identifier (ID) and password combination. The familiarity captured in the password may be associated with the numbers of a user's birthday, a Social Security No., or the key terms or phrases associated with a favorite past-time. However, this practice is frowned upon from a security perspective.
As a result of the increasing use of the internet generally, credit reports, online transactions, and debit or credit cards by people to manage their daily lives, security threats have blossomed. More complex viruses, trojan horses, phishing schemes, and hacking incidents plague computer networks and individual computers than ever before. Therefore, businesses are heightening security complexity to guard against potential liabilities. While people and businesses have moved online, so too have would-be thieves. Every conceivable transaction from mortgage payments to library book renewals is done online. Thus, people have a vast number of relationships that require secure login. But with more relationships, comes more risk online. Thieves or hackers today use sophisticated methods to steal personal login and other nonpublic data and thus gain access to both identity and finances that are stored electronically.
In the alternative, a user may employ multiple user IDs and passwords that are recorded and stored in proximity to a personal PC or workstation. Each entity that is accessed via the internet requires different forms of identification, for example, a user ID/password may require eight characters containing uppercase and lowercase letters, a number, and a special character such as a question mark. People are retaining handwritten lists written on scraps of paper that are then kept in their possession so that they can remember all of their different logins and passwords. Invariably, those scraps of paper are misplaced. Thus, the lists themselves can present a significant risk to users and their financial resources.
But no coping mechanism for memory overload tends to be optimal for the sake of security or convenience. In other words, neither practice has proven practical or foolproof. And avoiding the internet altogether could prove too costly in terms of missed business opportunities or social connections.
From a corporate perspective, businesses are losing online customers because those potential customers are unwilling to invest time filling out lengthy registration forms. In the end, consumers wind up frustrated, while businesses squander potential revenue opportunities derived from e-commerce operations.